A Mountain of A Sermon (for a snowy Sunday)

(Note: Services at Emanuel United Church of Christ are cancelled tomorrow, January 30, 2011, due to the icy streets and lack of cleared parking near the church. In lieu of a sermon, the article below is from Emanuel's February 2011 newsletter.)

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ –

"When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them.” Matthew 5:1-2"
Our Gospels for the month of February all come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, found in the 5th through 7th chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. This sermon contains many well-known, beloved passages of Scripture, such as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-11) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). It also contains some words that may make us very uncomfortable, such as “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22) It contains many challenging words about the difficult demands of being a disciple of Jesus: turning the other cheek, going the second mile, praying for enemies (Matthew 5:38-48). Perhaps a summary of the sermon can be found in Matthew 5:48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus’ words called his disciples to a way of life radically different both from that of the religious establishment of the day and that of the Roman empire which occupied and exploited the residents of Galilee and Judah. Likewise, Jesus calls us, who read these words some 2,000 years later, to a way of life radically different from that of our neighbors. We should not read them as a call to try to work our way into heaven – that work was done by Jesus at the cross, and God’s grace is sufficient. On the other hand, these words call us to reject the “easy believism” of our day which says that if we make an occasional “nod to God” prayer, we can be as arrogant, angry, greedy, gluttonous, lustful, ______ (fill in the blank) as we want, confident that God will let us off the hook in the end. To this way of thinking, Jesus responds, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) Perhaps these words from the Apostle Paul will help us interpret Jesus’ words: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2) It’s about letting go of our own will and our own agendas, and letting God transform our lives. In the words of the old hymn, “Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way/Thou art the potter, I am the clay….” And when we stumble and need forgiveness, we can be reminded that “God isn’t done with us yet.”

While Jesus’ words give us much to ponder, for our small congregation, Jesus’ call for us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) can both challenge and encourage us. A small amount of salt can preserve meat and add flavor to our dinner. A small candle can bring light in the darkness, as we demonstrate every Christmas Eve when we sing “Silent Night” and hold up our small candles. And, as we’ve discovered (perhaps to our frustration) this winter, many small snowflakes can have a big impact! In the same way, God can use our congregation for good in ways much larger than our small membership would indicate. The challenge is not to hide our light under a bushel – not to despair at our small numbers – but to be faithful with what God has given us, and to surrender ourselves to God’s service.

See you in church! (but not on Jan 30!)
Pastor Dave